


Where the sky meets the sea

by HaruIchigo



Series: Happy Life Day! (With love and squalor) [1]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Awkward Romance, Drama & Romance, Fluff and Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Seaside, Soft Din Djarin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:14:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27697463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaruIchigo/pseuds/HaruIchigo
Summary: Life Day in Mos Pelgo is ruined, but maybe something or someone can still save it.
Relationships: Din Djarin/Cobb Vanth
Series: Happy Life Day! (With love and squalor) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2025602
Comments: 6
Kudos: 57





	Where the sky meets the sea

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Там, где небо сходится с морем](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27684184) by [HaruIchigo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HaruIchigo/pseuds/HaruIchigo). 



> Sequel to "Lone Star".
> 
> NATIVE SPEAKER BETA WANTED

“Mrshl… dnt…”

“What, V'Aul? I do not understand you”.

Cobb wiped sweat from his forehead with his free hand. Two suns were overhead, it was getting hot.

“D… dnt…”

Perhaps One-Eyed V'Aul's diction could have been better, but Cobb's fingers dug into his cheeks so that his jaw crunched.  
V'Aul himself was still tied to the speeder, which dragged him by the arms from very Mos Pelgo.

“Ah, you said "don't"? You guys have crossed the line”. Cobb drew a hunting knife from its scabbard. “You came to my city. Showed up in school. Threatened children. And now you tell me not to do it?”

“Just sht me ... lk othrs ...

Cobb flung V’aul onto the sand and straddled him, grabbing the man by the throat.

“If I "just shoot you like the others", One-eyed, my message won’t hit”.

The tip of the knife went into the skin on the forehead, just under the hair. Cobb gripped the handle tighter, pulled the blade down and diagonally, overcoming the toughness of the skin.  
V'Aul's cry began jumping between the red rocks.

“Yes, buddy ... I don't enjoy it either…” Cobb brought the line to  
eyebrows and began pulling up, pouring blood on One-Eyed's eyelids. “But what can I do ... if you don't understand the words?”

“Mar... shaaaaawwwwl…”

“Yes, “Marshal’, that's what they call me. Maybe you will finally remember that this town has a marshal…”

When he finally finished, V'Aul stopped screaming and only whimpered softly. On his forehead, a scarlet five-pointed star bleeded out.  
Cobb got up and wiped the knife on V’aul’s shirt in disgust.

“Here is our brave man, so dashingly pointing his gun at the first graders! Suck it up and go to your boss. Say that the Marshal of Mos Pelgo wishes him a Happy Life Day. Move it!”

He kicked the whimpering body one last time, and cut the rope.  
He had no desire to see if this bastard was running away or not. All the way to Mos Pelgo, he could think only how the children were doing their best decorating the classroom, learning songs and so on, and then these dumb fucks, self-proclaimed badass raiders, just burst in, thinking that they would take hostages ... and he had to shoot these bastards in front of the kids. The kids!  
There are two days left before the holiday, they are unlikely to forget about everything in such a short time. They are unlikely to ever forget it. The corpses of bandits and the screaming marshal firing a blaster ... Happy Life Day, kids!

The bodies had already been buried by his arrival. In an empty classroom with tattered garlands and burnt tables, Issa-Or and Devali, a Togruta teacher, tried to distract a wailing bunch of miner's kids who had no one to fetch them from school so early.  
When Cobb entered, the kids immediately fell silent, and watched his every step with huge, frightened eyes. It broke his heart.  
Fortunately, Issa quickly pulled him aside.

“You did everything right”.

She always knew what’s eating him and never abused it, for which Cobb was especially grateful.

“No, Issa. Look at them”.

“They will soon calm down, and understand that you are their hero. You were there and protected them. They are lucky that Devali called you to hang the lanterns”.

“They live in a Stars forgotten town on the edge of the desert, they don't have much joy. And the Life Day is now ruined for them. Maybe forever”.

“Seems like it’s more ruined for you”. Issa-Or pulled out a datapad. “You need to unwind, Cobb. I will send you the letters they wrote to White Wookiee, you and Weequay will go to Mos Eisley and see what can be done. Oh, and take a couple of boxes of soda, and ... I don't remember, but Devali wrote a whole list”.

It was a good old tradition: the whole town helped in whatever way they could so that the children received gifts from White Wookiee. Weequay used all smuggling, flattery and threats possible, to get things that had not been seen on Tatooine before. Cobb doubted he himself would be of any use to him, especially with girly gifts, but Issa was right. He needed to unwind. To do something good, dink farrick.

***

“So, to be clear: you can't afford vintage, you don't want to take cheap ones”. The Twi’lek threw the lekku on his shoulder wearily, and put another bottle back under the counter. “Of course, it's easier to choose wine if you know that your presentee is drinking ... and watch your pet, please!”

Din pulled the baby out of the sawdust box, which he finally climbed into after several tries. It was the second time in fifteen minutes, which didn't make the tedious conversation easier.

“Look, I don’t know about all this. The bottle should be good enough for a gift. But I saw my friend drinking only spotchku and whiskey”.

“Spotchku, really…” The Twi’lek rolled his eyes. “Just to be clear: you choose vintage wine for the one who drinks cheap sour milk moonshine? Okay, that was a rhetorical question. Let's start again. There is a five-year-old whiskey, ten-year old…”

Din sighed heavily. He felt like an idiot already walking under the "Tavlin-zhuvaa Winery" sign, and over the last fifteen minutes this feeling has only intensified.  
He has never given gifts to anyone. In the Tribe, only children received Life Day gifts — adults were preparing for rituals.

On the eve of the Day of Life, the Blacksmith cooked a special caramel, golden as amber. It was cooked by an ancient recipe over a sacred fire. After that, she took out heavy iron molds in the shapes of birds of prey and predators from the box. There the caramel was fastening all night, and in the morning each foundling received their owl, wampa or mudhorn in rustling paper. It was forbidden to crunch them — another lesson. A warrior must be patient, otherwise — there was punishment.

After a night of festive vigils, ritual questions and answers, the adults shared a spicy, tangy uj'alay cake as a reminder of their lost home.  
Getting ready for the trip, Din always found a piece of uj waiting for him on the ship. He tried to eat it slowly, one bite at a time, savoring... but, secretly, he always missed the warm taste of caramel melting on his tongue.  
Uj, caramel — that was the taste of home.

But the home was no more. He was alone, and instead of rituals, he was now trying to delve into the difference between wine bottles from all ober the Galaxy, having no idea what people give to each other in general. Peli gave him three options: "wine", "money" and "chocolate", clearly hinting that she herself prefers money.  
But what would Cobb like ...

“Even half a year will do, I am not picky,” said a familiar voice behind him. Cobb stood there in the flesh, leaning against the doorframe and beamed with a smile.  
Din least of all expected to see him here, at this moment, and instead of joy he felt an unpleasant surprise, as if he was caught doing something shameful.

“Marshal”.

He didn't know what else to say. He planned their meeting in a completely different way, and place, not in front of a stranger. Cobb got it, patted him on the shoulder and walked over to the counter.

“I’ll get in out of line while you’re thinking,” he said, and turned to the Twi’lek. “Modru, right? Weequay ... that is, Jamewe from Mos Pelgo left an order: soda for children and something stronger for adults. Here is the number”.

“One minute, please.” Modru was clearly happy to disappear into the back room, leaving the dull Mandalorian. Din couldn't blame him.  
Following his gaze, Cobb leaned on the counter, as if he was flirting in some cantina.

“Did you want to surprise me or disappear unnoticed?” he asked, tilting his head slightly to his shoulder. This tilt, the sun-bleached gray strand falling onto his forehead ... and Din realized how much did he miss him. It was not a new feeling for him, but before he experienced it only for places, for home. Never for a person.

“The first option. And to bring…” - he waved towards the cabinet with bottles. “Something”.

Cobb smiled.

“I will not make it easy for you. I like pleasant surprises”.

He seemed relaxed, but Din was really doubt it.  
They’ve parted warmly that last time: shook hands again, decided that it would be nice to meet again some day. Cobb once again apologized for the “helmet mistake”.  
Both acted as if nothing special had happened. In order not to be sad. In order not to be ashamed.

But Din _was_ ashamed: he said something that should not have been said, - confessed his fear. Mandalorians never talk about fear even with their own kind, much less with strangers.  
Perhaps Cobb was sorry too? "I love you too" weighs a lot, these are not the words you tell to a man you see for a second time in your life.  
Why did they even talk that night?

“Are we going to pretend we haven't met?” Din decided to take pity on him and himself. “Tomorrow I'll fly to Mos Pelgo. We'll both be ready to meet. You don't have to ... keep standing here”.

Cobb raised his eyebrows mockingly.

“Actually, I have to. I'm waiting for my order”.

\- ...Yes. Right.

They fell silent again.  
Fortunately, Modru had just come out of the back room and asked Cobb to drive the cargo platform into the patio.  
Din was about to leave, but instead volunteered to help. Together with Cobb, they quickly loaded the jingling crates, and the ice broke, as it always did when they worked together.  
The child, who had finally found an interesting place, rustled with something under the tarp.

“I've had the worst day, Mando,” Cobb said as they walked through the dimly lit shopping district. “I shot the gang in front of seven-year-olds; ruined their Life Day. Did other things that I'm not proud of... got tired like a dog. And do you know what I want now?”

Din said nothing, knowing it was a rhetorical question.  
Cobb stopped and bent down to his helmet, serious, as if it were a matter of life and death.

“I want you to take me behind that cantina, push me against the wall, and fuck me so hard I’ll forget my name”.

“Not now.“ It was the only thing that came to Din's mind. The blood drained from the brain and instantly rushed to his cock — at least so it seemed to him. “And not here. I can’t leave the child”.

Cobb sighed.

“Well there is the way with you. I know you are a fan of discussing details, not improvisation... I did not take this into account”.

They really had a lot to talk about, but Din liked the thought of blanking this night out. They will really see each other tomorrow at Mos Pelgo. Then the time will come for conversations and decisions. And today...

“I know one place. Come with me”.

***  
He pushed Cobb against the wall behind Peli's workshop. By that time, the child had long been drooling in his hammock, on the ship, and Din could stop worrying about him, stop thinking about anything ...  
Cobb reached for his cheeks, but hesitated, and Din lifted his helmet himself, just a little.

“Maybe ... take it off?” Cobb asked, trying to tilt his head more comfortably to his mouth from one side than the other. “It’s hard to…”

“No”.

“To hell with it then…”

It was all hasty, erratic, not at all like their last night when they ... "made love" — that was the only thing he could call it.  
Din considered kissing to be the highest degree of trust, a luxury to be enjoyed slowly, to thank the lover for this honor with every movement.  
Cobb didn't give a damn; he shoved his tongue in his mouth as soon as their lips touched.

They seemed to have changed places. On their first night, Din wanted to get it over with as soon as possible — it was unbearable to endure this tension, no one touched him for so long... Now it was Cobb fucking his gloved hand, earning bruises from beskar on his narrow hips.

“Mando ... Mando ... Din ... oh kriff… oh...

He froze, his breath completely halted, and went limp, face buried in Din’s shoulder. His hand was still moving though, and Din thought he was going to be fiddling for a long time. Everything was wrong: too fast, uncomfortable, he did not see kriff in the shifted helmet ... but as soon as Cobb kissed him, gently and slowly, biting his lower lip at the end, he finished right there, and barely stood on his feet, so he had to lean on the wall ...  
Rather, he thought he was leaning. Because when he came to his senses, he heard the plaster crumbling under his fist in silence.  
Peli will definitely get money for the Life Day.

“Remind me… no to make you angry”. Cobb straightened his helmet and stroked his beskar cheeks with his thumbs.

“I thought you understood a long time ago”.

For a couple of minutes they put themselves in order, silently, thoroughly. There was nothing more to talk about, only farewells, but Cobb was silent, like a man looking for something to say.

“Maybe ... you will come with us?” He finally uttered. “I just need to pick Weequay from his pals, and we are ready”.

Din sighed. He really wanted to. But the plan was different.

“No. I'll get you tomorrow morning in Mos Pelgo. Pack your things”.

Cobb, fiddling with the holster strap, looked up in surprise.

“What are you up to, Mando?”

Din now got it. This idea was even worse than the one about the gift.  
The marshal had his own business. It was rude to just burst in and order him to get ready.

“You have never been beyond Tatooine”.

Cobb chuckled strainly, as if he were embarrassed about it.

“Yes, I spent all my youth on the road, but it was a desert, not hyperlanes. What's wrong with it?”

“I know a planet in this sector. There is a forest and a sea that you have not seen”.

Cobb was speechless for a second. He even looked around, as if looking for something to change the topic to.

“This… this is really something, Mando… I don't know what to say. So, you’re asking me out? On a date? To another planet?

Din shrugged slightly.

“I have a ship”.

The word "date" never crossed his mind, and he never understood what it meant anyway. It was a Life Day gift that Cobb should have liked. And a good place to discuss things.  
At least he thought so.

“You are full of surprises, Mando. I have a lot on my plate now in Mos Pelgo... but I don't refuse, no! It's just ... I have to think it over”. He smiled and patted Din on the shoulder. “See you tomorrow, big guy. I need… I still have something to… nevermind, see ya!”

Din just sighed heavily.  
Everything went awry.

***

He never took his helmet off.  
Cobb never thought it would hurt him that much. He liked the whole Din: his heavily built strong body and shining beskar, his hoarse voice ...  
Only the black visor infuriated him.  
“I saw you,” Cobb almost said when Din refused to take off his helmet. - “I know you, I remember everything” ...  
How his black eyes ignite from passion, how his proud beak of a nose rubs against the neck in a moment of tenderness, how his full lips whisper something half endearments in a strange language, half familiar curses, hot breath tickling the ear...  
But Mando became Mando again. He redeemed, probably, all his sins and came out clean. And about what happened between them now ... they sort of decided that there was nothing. And the Mandalorian creed, apparently, does not forbid others to see the Mandalorian prick or get it out.

It would be better if Din didn’t return.  
On the night of the storm, Cobb was so worried about him that for some reason he told the truth. After all, everything indicated that they would not see each other again, there could never be anything serious between them. Their last night was so warm and tender, so bittersweet... why not admit it, while parting forever?

And now Din shows up as if nothing had happened and asks him out on a date. For some reason, Cobb had never expected such a turn.  
As well as the fact that he literally jumped on his Mando, as if they were fifteen and furiously jerking each other off in the alley is the most common thing.

A date, dink farrik...

Cobb knew he didn't deserve it. Not after spoiling the holiday for the children. He did everything wrong. He should think before shooting, should get these freaks out of school first... somehow. He should find a way, and only then...

To distract himself, he went to buy nuts and berries in a familiar shop on the corner.  
After the second goodbye to Din, even when sure that they would never meet again, Cobb still looked up the Mandalorians, trying to learn more about them. It turned out to be more difficult than he thought. Historical treatises about Mandalore's endless boring wars with literally everyone did not interest him, but there was nothing more recent, except prices for beskar and a recipe for uj cake in a cookbook.

As soon as Mando mentioned the bottle, Cobb already knew that the White Wookiee had a gift for him too.

***  
He and Wickway stayed late and returned only after midnight. Issa-Or even rode out to meet them, and from afar he could hear her shooting, scaring the night predators away.  
The sounds of home... other times they would have warmed Cobb.

The three of them unloaded the gifts in class and packed them in colorful bags, which Devali sewed from the rags collected around the town. As he worked, Cobb kept staring at the empty walls: no garlands, no lanterns, no drawings of a White Wookiee looking like a wampa.  
No holiday. It is unlikely that toys and sweets could help here ... only a miracle would have saved the Day of Life in Mos Pelgo.

***

Landing near the town, Din didn't think he would be greeted. But as soon as he landed, children streamed out of the houses like peas from a sack. They stopped at a respectful distance from the ship, but it was clear that they were waiting for something. Din decided that the kids had simply never seen a large craft before, but something didn't fit.  
Cobb came up last: waddling slightly. Din still didn't know how he felt about him after yesterday, but this familiar gait raised so much tenderness in him ...

“What a meeting, Mando! Didn't expect to see you”. Cobb grinned.

“Marshal. Are you ready?”

Cobb looked back at the shifting children and gloomy teenagers.

“You see ... there is one thing…”

Din already knew what he was getting at. And this ruined all his plans.

“Wait, Mando, don't sigh like that! Yes, I lived on Tatooine all my lide, I never saw anything, but I'm fine ... and these kids — their life is just beginning, and it will be a harsh life, it is already harsh. And you can do something good for them. Life Day, Mando! Isn't that the point?”

“You're manipulating me”.

“Exactly. Am I any good?”

Din sighed again.

“They may go”.

Cobb's gratitude was drowned in wild yells.

***  
It really was a good deed. But Din was neither calm nor pleased. For him, this trip was already difficult: he flew to Tatooine, wanting to talk to Cobb about important things ... but the man did not understand. Again. For him, it was a "date" — just another opportunity to have a good time.

_"I love you too, Mando."_

What did these words mean to him?

“Don't touch anything!”

There were already one too many kids on the Razor Crest, but now, when they crammed into the cargo area and constantly crawled everywhere, screaming, laughing and chatting, he felt that he was starting to go crazy.  
Fortunately, Devali was with them. He had known this woman for only a few minutes, but he already felt immense gratitude for her.  
She seemed to manage to be in all places at the same time.

“Children, you are on a visit! It is not polite to touch other people's things while visiting. Luu, put it back. Tavani, no, you can't go up! Where's the little one? Don't offend him, his father agreed to take you to the sea, and he may change his mind any second!”

“Sure this is not the worst thing that happened to your ship”. Cobb sat in the passenger seat. Din would have been glad to see him there once. But now the irritation just did not go away.

“It's up to me to decide”.

Cobb sighed.

"Will we be out of hyperspace soon?"

“Bored already?”

“It was interesting for the first couple of minutes. But …” Cobb looked around. “You know, it's nice here. It's chilly, really, but I've heard it's always like this in space. And when you think that there are only a couple of metal sheets between us and the ice-cold suffocating abyss…”

He chuckled softly.

“The ship, by the way… It feels like you: shabby, rugged. And there is something about it ... that I really like. I can't quite put a finger on it. It’s everything, probably”.

Din didn’t look at him, but he could hear him smiling, and knew that his eyes, green on Tatooine, used to squinting slyly from the sun, looked warm and brown now in the half-darkness of the cockpit. Sincere.

Din could even imagine that no one else is here, and...

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

“Luu!”

“What?! She bit me!”

Din swore through the clenched teeth. One child on this ship was definitely enough. Cobb reached out and patted his arm.

“You are doing a good thing, remember this”.

“Sit down and buckle up, we leave hyperspace soon”.

Someone stomped down the stairs below, and a small curly head appeared in the hatchway.

“Marshal, can I look at the stars?”

“There are no stars yet, Tavani. Okay, either go down or up, it can shake now”.

The boy immediately materialised behind Cobb's chair, clinging to thinning old upholstery.

“What's this? A hyperspace? Why is it so strange?”

“No idea, ask Mando. He goes here often, maybe he knows”.

Tavani glanced sideways at Din, but said nothing. Din was fine with that.

The ship was gently pushed back into the star field. And in complete silence, Tavani breathed out softly:

“Wow…”

“TAVANI WENT UP!”

“I want too!”

“Up! Up!”

The staircase creaked dangerously, as if many tenacious hands were swinging it from below.

“Stop wrecking my ship!” Din growled. “You — down. Tell them they go up one at a time. Ten seconds each”.

He thought that there would be a flurry of questions and he would have to protect the control panel from curious kids who touch everything..., but the children became unexpectedly serious, solemn even.  
They stood their ten seconds silently, not moving and almost not breathing, not taking their eyes off the large, motionless stars, and descended back just as quietly.  
Their admiration passed on to Din. As if for the first time he saw a blue-green planet soaring below, so calm in its shining halo, and thought about the foundlings. Does anyone care for them the way Cobb and the others care for Mos Pelgo's children?  
He remembered that time when he was a child and Jana Vizla allowed him to stand on the threshold of the Vault at night, and the stars were just as big and bright, and Nevarro seemed like a mysterious magical world...

“Go down”, he said softly to the last one, the tiny girl, snuggled against his elbow. Tell everyone to hold on to something. We're going down”.

***

He thought that the children would immediately scatter, but the sight of the endless water surface, merging with the sky, had the same effect on them as the sight of space.  
Even Cobb sat speechless, forgetting to unfasten his seat belts. He pretended to look for something in his travel bag, but Din noticed how pale he was.  
The hesitant voices below finally turned into shouts, laughter and contented squeals.

"There's a forest on the hill," Din reminded, blocking the ship's systems and getting up. “If you are interested”.

“What? Oh, yes, sure”. Cobb grinned, wider than usual. “Let's walk there later. First we need to make sure that no one is killed or drowned”.

They didn’t have time even to exchange a word before sunset.

Din landed the ship on a high green bank, sloping gently towards the water. A little further, along the cape, there was a pine forest.  
He remembered how he was hiding in this forest with a sniper rifle, waiting for the target, and managed to get a good look at the coast through the gunsight. And to think that Cobb would like it here. And that it is they need to talk, sitting on the sand, watching how the sky meets the sea.

Minor repairs on the ship took only a couple of hours, so the rest of the time he just watched Cobb, who rolled up his trousers and walked the Child in shallow water, making sure that he did not wander far. From somewhere he had taken a pilot's life raft, bright orange, with the Republic logo. The raft was no longer visible — so many kids were hanging on it. The laughter and splashing, and then lunch on the beach — an absolute happiness that Din never knew ... or maybe just forgot.  
Cobb’s plan succeeded. And maybe it really wasn't a bad idea after all.

At dusk, he noticed that Cobb was heading towards the forest alone, and quietly followed him.

“If someone had given me such a gift as a child…” Cobb stopped, waiting for him. “How was your childhood, Din? Are your parents also Mandalorians?”

“No”. That was not what he wanted to talk about. “I was a foundling, raised by the Tribe”.

“Mine were slaves, just like me. But my folks were sold out fast, I hardly remember them. Mother went to the estate to visit me from the very Mos Eisley, but not for long. She probably died soon... have you never gone outside from your cellar when you were little?”

“I went out before I got to the Tribe”. Din liked this conversation less and less. Trying to remember his childhood in Aq Vetina, he always drowned in the familiar numb horror. As if nothing had happened before That Day.

Recently, the horror has receded, and some scraps have returned: the tricks of light in the stained-glass windows, red clothes. The hallway of their house, full of adults, and father’s calm gesture when he laid his hands on their bowed heads.

His mother and father taught him to say some words before meals and before bedtime, and it seemed so important... until it didn’t. Until it disappeared forever.

Every memory hurt like a wound.

“I see... and I was like a tumbleweed, always under the suns, going from one pasture to another. Only once the Mistress gambled me away at pazaak: I loitered for a week in the Hutts’ palace: so handsome, with a new gun. The Master found out, there was a scandal, and he bought me back to graze the cattle again. I've ... seen a lot, Mando. In my childhood, if there was a shootout in the city, no one cleaned up the corpses for a long time, they were lying around, no one gave a damn. The bounty hunter could simply leave the tied bodies on the porch and go to the cantina to celebrate”.

“Why are you telling me about this?”

“Because…” Cobb stopped and looked at the small camp near the shore. “When I remember my childhood, old Tatooine, there is only death, dirt and pain. No, I was the happiest ten-year-old on the planet! But now I can understand that it was hell, it's just that the children see everything differently. Then they grow up and forget, but the scars remain. I know that you're mad at me, Mando, that I screwed up all the romance for us, but ... we need to be better. Everyone. For their sake. Do you understand?”

“I am not mad”. It was true now. “But I don't think we can become better. It's too late for us”.

“It's never too late”. Cobb walked to the edge of the forest and stopped, his head raised. “Kriff… they swing. Is this ok or are we better off?”

“They won't fall”.

“I won’t be so sure…” Cobb cautiously walked over to the tree and pushed the trunk. “Hmm. It seems to be strong, but the design itself is… ramshackle”.

“They go many clicks underground. I wanted to talk to you”.

“We seem to be talking”. Cobb took his hand away from the trunk and sniffed it. “The smell is nice, is it tar? I heard you can chew it. By the way, how's your redemption going?”

“I have atoned for my sin”. Din didn't go into details. Fight to the point of exhaustion in a poisoned wasteland, no armor, no helmet. Endless rows of urns with ashes - what remains of his long-dead brothers and sisters. Gray, low skies ...

But even there he could not get himself back. He was not thinking about denying the past. He was looking for workarounds.

“I have atoned for my sin. And I will not succumb again”.

“Pity, I liked you ... the face, I mean. Fucking in a helmet is not so convenient, many options cease at once, which is also a pity …” Cobb stubbornly avoided looking at him. “Or we won’t do it either? Since you're a good boy again, it means you admitted that it was all a huge mistake”.

“It was not a mistake. I took my helmet off because I wanted to”.

“Yes, I already heard that ... well, are we going back? They seem to have fireworks in there, if they remember to put them on”.

“Will you join my clan?”

Cobb raised his eyebrows so high that the lines on his forehead became like a mountain ridge.

“What? Mando, you ...” He chuckled and ran his hand through his hair. “Listen, my serious fella, you don't need to make me marriage proposals if you just want to come once a year to have a fuck”.

Din winced. Cobb was angry, but for some reason his rage seeped like a poison, and did not explode. It would be better if he yelled like he did in the Tusken camp.

“I thought about the reasons. I took off my helmet in front of you, because I felt ... as if we were one”.

It all didn't sound the way he intended. The situation was not the same, the words felt flat. Cobb didn't believe him, and he didn't believe himself. That night seemed so far away, everything changed ...

“If you become part of my clan, I will not oblige you to anything. The only thing you have to do is take care of the child if I die. But in return, I promise to protect you and Mos Pelgo. I will go to you anytime, wherever I am”.

“I'm not a Mandalorian”. Cobb stopped grinning. A ray of sunset caught in his hair, gilded his eyes. “And even if I was one, you can't take off your helmet even in front of your own”.

“I can't take it off in front of others”. Din pulled out a knife and removed his glove, revealing the palm.”But we can become one. One blood. If you feel the same as I feel”.

Cobb lowered his head, as if examining something on the ground, in a scattering of red and green pine needles.

“What I feel, huh…” he drawled. “While you were away, the Sand people came to us often... I hadn’t much to do, so I began to learn their language. Neighbours and all that…”

Din waited. He had no more words for Cobb. Everything was said.

“... Issa-Or knows it, even Weeqway does, and I’m still ... well, I learned something. Now, how was it…”

Cobb coughed and made a strange growling sound from the depths of his lungs. Then, looking at Din, he put his hand to his throat, then to his lips, to his chest.  
Din froze. He didn't need a translation.

“I was told it means…”

“I know what it means”.

“.... they said it means: "I will never kill you." In our language, this ... I already told you. Do you remember? Nothing has changed”.

Din didn't answer. He grabbed the knife and ripped his palm open without even wincing. The blood oozed out immediately, like water from under the ground.  
Cobb could use his own knife, but, obeying an unspoken ritual, he took the Mandalorian blade, slashed his palm without looking, in one swift motion. The blood splattered, painting the young, soft pine needles red.

Their fingers intertwined, the edges of the wounds closed as if in a kiss. Cobb gritted his teeth, his eyes darkened.

“Clan Mudhorn, a clan of two, became a clan of three”. Din heard his own voice as if from afar.

His hand hurt, but he didn't want to release his grip, not yet. This moment will not happen again. Never again in all his life will he be so close with another person, and it was sad and joyful at the same time.

Cobb let go of his hand first, and without looking away, carefully removed his helmet.

He was the first person to do this, and Din noticed his fingers trembling. This tremor transmitted even through beskar, because he himself suddenly felt too vulnerable, too anxious...

“You should…” Cobb's voice broke, and he cleared his throat. “You should have a haircut, Mando… I can…

“Yes. Yes, I should”.

Cobb nodded, handed him the helmet and went to the water to wash off the blood. After a moment's hesitation, Din neatly placed his helmet on the high roots, and followed him, again admiring that leaping gait and a lanky figure that was nothing special ... except that it was Cobb.

“Why doesn't it burn?” Cobb squatted down, washing his hands. “It’s the sea water after all”

“It's not the ordinary sea. It’s a giant freshwater lake”. Din unfastened his armor and sat on a rock, pulling off his boots. He had not been swimming for pleasure for so long he began to forget how much he liked it. He felst eager, he wanted to move, to do something ... “You didn't even try to swim”.

“What? Oh, yes, I'm fine”. Cobb smiled. Din was already beginning to distinguish his sincere smiles from token ones. “I like to watch. All this fresh water ... this is… madness. I know, it sounds stupid, but we on Tatooine don't bathe in drinking water, it’s too…”

“Cobb”.

“You are right, nobody’s gonna drink this. But I don't understand it. It can easily kill me”.

“You will be fine”. Din walked ankle-deep into the water and held out his hand, red with their blood. “You're safe with me”.

***

Cobb thought it would be just a nice ride. He is not a dim wild hick, he saw other planets — in the pictures, but still. Knew how the things are.  
But he did not think that in reality it will be ... like this. That all this alien abundance will surround him and there will be nowhere to retreat.  
Water, grass, forest ... they disturbed him rather than pleased. Snakes could hide underfoot, trees blocked the view, and the sea ... the water that gave life on Tatooine could kill here. Therefore, he watched the children all day without relaxing for a second, horrified that they literally play in the mouth of the rancor.  
Din didn’t even come up to them once, he was probably mad. Cobb could totally understand: a handsome man in a shining helmet returned to have a pleasant Life Day, and not to mess with children. Fuck on the grass full of venomous snakes on the shore of the killer sea, and fly away.

"And what do you want?" he constantly asked himself, glancing at Din, who was soldering something on the hull of the ship. “Maybe he should abandon his creed for your sake? To settle in your Stars forgotten wilderness? Is this an honor enough for a bantha herder, a former slave, or does Your Highness need more? ”

Of course, he didn’t want it. He was confused. And jealous of the Mandalorian creed, like a fool.  
He noticed that he was becoming more anxious and chatty. He was angry with himself and Din for that, even thought to tell him not to come again...

And what of it? As soon as Mando spoke to him in this serious, disarming voice, he agreed to slash his palm open, just to...  
"Become one." That's what Din called it.  
Cobb did not believe, of course, that such a thing was possible between two adults, two loners, with their hang-ups. But something about the way Din said it touched his soul endlessly.  
It may not be possible, but they both wanted it. So it was worth trying.

Kriff, he even went into the water for this man! He could not calmly watch his Din, naked as an ancient statue, standing ankle-deep in this liquid gold and saying so unbearably soft: "you are safe with me", his gaze so tender...

Cobb did not feel safe at all. Kriffing Mando brought him into the water up to his chest, and it was everywhere, dink farrik. One slip, one gape...

“Try to float”.

“What?”

“It will hold you”.

Cobb chuckled incredulously and shook his head. Water. Hold him. Yeah, sure.

“Then I will hold you”. Din put a hand on his back. “Just lay back. I won't let go”.

Cobb knew that this man won’t leave him alone, and decided to comply. There were more terrible and more complicated things in his life, after all, and...

The water did hold him.  
Din had one hand under his shoulder blades, the other under his lower back, but he barely felt them. His body seemed to dissolve in this lightness, and all that was left hovered between the earth and the darkening sky.  
All sins and scars, all mistakes, the heat of the desert ... the water washed everything away.  
He breathed in deeply, threw his head back ... and in an instant there was nothing but cold. Everything around was seething. Water was suddenly everywhere, in the eyes, in the mouth, in the lungs ...

He emerged, furiously clearing his throat and coughing up, barely reached, blindly, to a lonely boulder and grabbed onto it as if it was the only solid thing in his life. He didn’t even register that he is neck-deep now.  
Din stepped closer and put his hands on his shoulders.

“It happens”.

“Not… In the desert…” Cobb braced himself and released the stone to turn around. “Even quicksand is just sand”.

“I will not let you drown, you can hold on to me”.

Din's skin was cold and his mouth hot. It was maddening. And strong hands, easily lifting him under the buttocks, drove him crazy. In the water Mando seemed stronger, as if he could do anything to him ...

“What are you up to…” - Cobb looked up from his lips, wrapped his legs around Din’s waist, pressing himself closer. “No, friend, nothing will come out of it. Or, more precisely, nothing will come in, trust me”.

"Later..." Din said vaguely and pressed him to the boulder. “I will do what you asked. Ask again”.

“Hm… I recall something”. Cobb ran his hand through Din’s unkempt wet hair. “I asked you, Mando, to fuck me so hard I would forget my name. And if I still respond to “Cobb Vanth” in the morning…”

Din shutted him up with a kiss, and Cobb couldn't care less. This kriffing Mando always kissed like there was no other way to say “I love you”.

 _"There is a whole sea of water around me. A whole sea ... I can drink ... I can swim ... and what am I doing ... I cuddle in it with a Mandalorian,"_ Cobb thought, throwing his head back. He suddenly felt the surf gently pushing them, and noticed for the first time how the water caresses him and Din, as if wishing to join. The desert never caressed him like that; it only wanted him dead”.

_"If I want to, I can even dive. Or fuck him... fuck Mando in the water! Incredible ... yes I am the king of the galaxy."_

“I'm the fucking king of the galaxy!”

Din muffled a short, hoarse laugh into his shoulder, and it was the strangest and most beautiful sound ever.

***  
It was time to get dressed and go down to the crackling of fireworks, but Cobb was still wrapped in Din's cloak and didn’t really want to let go.  
They sat next to the fire, trying to dry themselves, but the cold wind from the sea made the coast less and less magical.  
Din got dressed and pulled out something from a bag.

“It will keep you warm”.

Cobb glanced at the label and whistled, acknowledging the truth of the words. Twelve years old whiskey: a drop of this bliss could even melt Hoth.

“It's bad for an empty stomach, so ... I also have something”. Cobb reached into his bag, fumbled for a jar of balm, threw it away, it will come in handy later ... and finally fished out the package. “Watch out, it crumbles. I don't know why, I kind of did everything as in the recipe. Too wet, probably”.

Din shrugged and gently unrolled the stained paper. Cobb never tired of watching his face change. This is how he looks when he is surprised, and this is how he looks when he is deeply moved, but restrains himself. And this grin, just a corner of his mouth barely twitching, but his gaze immediately warms up ... did he hide it all the time under his helmet? Oh, Mando ...

"Is this ... uj?"

“I hope so”. Cobb took a sip of whiskey right from the bottle, exhaled, trying to remember this moment: the trees, the sea, children's laughter in the distance, Din's smile, this cold and this heat inside and outside. To remember every second.

“Happy Life Day, Marshal”, Din said softly, his eyes black, shiny. And Cobb realized that in all his life he had never loved anyone so much, and would never love again.

“Happy Life Day, Mando”.


End file.
